As the New York Times and ThinkProgress have reported, Ralph Reed has returned as a force in the political world. A decade ago, Reed was a kingmaker in Republican politics and a corporate lobbyist who counted Fortune 100 companies like Enron and Microsoft as clients. His fall from grace, starting with the Jack Abramoff scandal and culminating in a humiliating loss in his run for lieutenant governor of Georgia, is apparently now behind him. Times reporter Erik Eckholm points out that Reed has successfully revived his work as an operator within the Republican Party, most notably with his ability to ensnare nearly every Republican presidential contender to a conference he’s hosting this weekend.

However, little is known about Reed’s work reviving his business as an astroturf lobbyist. According to documents obtained by ThinkProgress, the National Cable and Telecom Association (NCTA), a trade association that represents cable providers like Comcast and Qwest Communications, has provided Reed’s lobbying firm with at least $3,462,117 worth of contracts in the last three years alone. Century Strategies, the firm founded by Reed and fellow astroturf lobbyist Tim Phillips in 1997, received the contracts for what NCTA deemed “legal and advertising” services. View a screenshot of the relevant documents here and here.

ThinkProgress has queried several staffers at Reed’s lobbying firm to learn about the contract. At CPAC this year, one employee for Reed told us that he did not work on the NCTA account and knew little about it. I spoke to another staffer in Reed’s Atlanta office this week and asked if the firm ever provides any kind of legal or advertising work for clients. “None at all,” she replied to the legal question. “Nope, we don’t,” she said in response to a question I had about Century Strategies creating or purchasing advertisements for clients. Why did the cable industry pay Reed millions for advertising work, then?

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Disgraced lobbyist Ralph Reed is again at the center of attention within the Republican Party. His latest religious front group, the Faith and Freedom Coalition, has managed to schedule nearly every potential GOP presidential candidate (from Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul to Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney) for its annual conference this weekend. Perhaps the Republican field is simply eager to reach social conservatives since the convention is billed as a forum for those in the “faith community.” But is a single speech worth signing onto Reed’s nakedly manipulative lobbying agenda?

During the ’90s, Reed sailed to power using the Christian Coalition to galvanize social conservative voters for Republican causes and corporate lobbying campaigns. His firm, Century Strategies, founded along with lobbyist Tim Phillips, attracted an array of corporate clients, from Microsoft to Enron. (Reed and Phillips used religious right voters to deregulate energy markets, for example.) His quick rise, starting with an active leadership role in the College Republicans, came crashing down after revelations about his dealings as a corporate lobbyist.

An investigation of Jack Abramoff, a partner to Reed in several ventures, showed the true depths of Reed’s cynical exploitation of both his clients and the faith community. At one point, Reed and Phillips actually helped Abramoff’s sweatshop clients in Saipan kill a labor reform bill by telling evangelicals that the bill would allow missionaries to continue work on the island. In fact, the sweatshops were known for cruel conditions, like forced abortions and prostitution, and Reed’s message to oppose the bill had been a trick to fool voters into supporting the sweatshop owners’ interests. Reed avoided direct prosecution in the Abramoff cases, which involved the laundering of money using Reed-affiliated front groups, and later lost a bid to become the lieutenant governor of Georgia.

Earlier this month, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow extensively covered the remergence of Reed as a force in both the lobbying world and the landscape of modern Republican politics:

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Given his incredible baggage, Reed’s comeback has been impressive. Even Phillips, his cohort, is as influential as ever. After Reed’s publicity problems began mounting, Phillips became president of the Koch Industries front group, Americans for Prosperity.

During the Abramoff investigation, a particularly telling email emerged from Reed about his interests after an election cycle:

Hey, now that I’m done with the electoral politics, I need to start humping in corporate accounts! I’m counting on you to help me with some contacts.

That email was from 1998, but the corporate humping has not stopped. As we reported and Maddow graciously covered, Reed’s lobbyists recently created an astroturf “Tea Party” group to repeal financial reforms passed last year. With Republicans lining up to kiss Reed’s ring this weekend, they cannot divorce their appearance at the event with Reed’s lobbying interests. Even Reed doesn’t bother concealing the connection — his Faith and Freedom Coalition is housed in the same office as his lobbying firm.

In the late 90s, Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed and astroturf lobbyist Tim Phillips came together to create “Century Strategies,” a lobbying firm that specializes in generating religious support or opposition to legislation on behalf of corporate interests. For example, the firm worked for Enron organizing Christian support for energy deregulation policies. Later, it was revealed that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff worked with Century Strategies to develop evangelical support for his forced abortion sweatshop clients in the Mariana Islands. The firm faded from public scrutiny as Phillips left to become president of David Koch’s Americans for Prosperity, and Reed made an unsuccessful run at statewide office in Georgia.

However, Century Strategies is again making headlines. This time, through a Christian front group Reed created called the “Faith and Freedom Alliance.” According to tax disclosures, Faith and Freedom is chaired by Reed and hosted at his lobbying office in Georgia.

Faith and Freedom scored a coup last night when it hosted the very first GOP primary debate for candidates running for president in 2012. In the announcement for the debate, the group does not disclose that it is run by a lobbying firm. But the contact information uses the same P.O. Box for Reed’s lobbying firm Century Strategies:

After years of scandals and political defeats, it appears Ralph Reed is going to try for a political comeback. Reed is creating a new advocacy group called the Faith and Freedom Coalition, reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The latest venture, Reed says, will focus on “finding and training the next generation of conservative leaders, volunteers and activists” and serve as a Christian Coalition 2.0 for conservative voters of faith:

“This is not going to be your daddy’s Christian Coalition,” Reed said in an interview to describe his new venture, the Faith and Freedom Coalition. “It has to be younger, hipper, less strident, more inclusive and it has to harness the 21st century that will enable us to win in the future.” [...]

“Even though I’ve been doing other things, this is kind of like Steve Jobs returning to Apple,” Reed said.

In 1997, Reed was forced to leave the Christian Coalition “as the Federal Election Commission was investigating whether it violated campaign finance rules. By 1999, the IRS had revoked the Coalition’s tax-exempt status for taking partisan stands in elections.” (HT: Taegan Goddard)